There were a couple of tragic deaths in the motorcycle world this week.  Peter Lenz, the thirteen year old motorcycle phenom during the 250 GP at Indianapolis this past weekend.  The other is Matthew Dieckmann, the founder of the company that took third place in this year’s TTXGP.  These remind us that there are real risks to riding motorcycles.  At the same time, we need to remember that it’s up to you to calculate the risks at any point.  Racers don’t crash in the pit area, riders often don’t even bother wearing helmets or gear on pit bikes… because that’s an area where they don’t take risks; they do however crash during actual races because that’s when they take the most risks, and wear the most gear.  So for riders on the city street and highways, it’s up to the rider whether you’re going to treat that street you’re on more like a pit lane or a race track…

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1. Crash Analysis
2. Crashing on Turn-In
3. Three Ways to Make Motorcycles as Safe as Minivans

On the video he asks if you can spot the small error the student makes around the 3minute mark… I’m not sure, but my guess is that it’s the #1 mistake most riders make: turning in too early and winding up wide at the exit.

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1. Riding Skills: An Exit Strategy
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3. Where to Look in a Turn

I think this is the downside to taking your license plate and hiding the VIN is that technically, from what I understand, without identification your bike can be considered abandoned, the same as a box left on the street, so the police probably didn’t need a warrant or special orders to break into the storage compartments and look for some kind of ID.  But having plates and VIN numbers won’t save your bike against the NYPD’s relentless crusade against gas-saving congestion-reducing two wheeled vehicles… Because everyone knows drug dealers and gun runners like to hide their stash in their Vespas.

Thanks to Dave for posting this in the Parking Alert comments!  If you park on Vanderbilt and 47th and can’t find your bike today…well, I’m sorry to hear that.

Back in the days when a race began with a running start and a rider had to push start the bike himself, Hailwood was the British equivalent of Rossi who later went on to race in Formula One. I’m not sure if it’s time that just makes it cooler, but there was a laid back quality to these early racers. They had a Hollywood sort of cool about them that you don’t see in today’s top riders.

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What are onboard cameras good for? When I did a mini-review of the 1st gen non-HD Go Pro Hero a while back the general response I heard was “Cool! But at $199 msrp (although I found the motorsport version for $120) it’s a little pricey for a toy.” And the Go Pro is temperamental with a hard to use interface… The HD version of the Go Pro is msrp $299, but for just a few dollars more you can get equally good video quality and ruggedness with a much better user interface on a Drift HD-170 (the Go Pro HD is msrp at $299). It’s cool to have video footage of your weekend ride, but most people ride the same roads most of the time, and so the ride footage isn’t so much of a thrill.

So as toys, these things might be overpriced, but as training tools either of these cameras (or even the $120 non HD Go Pro) are a bargain! There is no more useful training tool to help you work on body position, lines, corner speed, and some people even use it as a visual timer. For the cost of a cheap IR lap timer, you can have a multi purpose training tool. Whether you’re a track junky, a cone monkey, or just want to see smooth you are in the twisties, a camera on the tail section or a camera on the tank (or both) is the way to go. So what are these cameras good for? Quite a bit if you know how to use them.

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1. Inexpensive Onboard Video
2. Nice onboard track video…
3. Sight seeing…Rome

Ever wonder how fast the pros go? If you’re on the east coast you probably don’t get to ride Laguna Seca, but we do have an AMA track in southern Jersey, so check it out. Here’s a video from OTT I’ve been meaning to post, but it took me forever to find it again because it’s not on Youtube for some reason… It’s a look at the GPS data from a hot lap with Aaron Yates. If you’ve ever ridden Thunderbolt, you know that turn 1 can be taken faster than it looks at first – but I would have never thought 70mph! Now I don’t recommend you set your speedo at 70 try that turn yourself unless of course you’re Aaron Yates.

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1. Going Fast…

What’s the most useful bit of protection (other than a helmet) in a high speed crash?  Abrasion resistant clothing.  Which is why long before motorcycle gear was made of leather long before anyone thought to add armor pads and back protectors.  But what’s the most useful bit of protection in a low speed crash? For a low side on a local road over oil or gravel?  Abrasion resistance isn’t as important because of the low speed, but what bit of kit can help make a low speed spill relatively harmless?  My bet is on elbow armor.

The fastest part of a low speed spill is the vertical descent as your front wheel slips and you head toward the ground.  Unlike high speed low sides, you start off further from the ground and so you actually hit the ground harder than if you were going faster.  And the part of your body to hit the ground first is probably your elbow (unless you’re sticking your knee out).

Fortunately elbow armor is fairly unobtrusive and can be worn on the body or sewn into the lining of older motorcycle leather.  You can even wear it without a jacket (if you’re okay with the post apocalyptic gladiator look), making it good for medium speed rides on sweltering New York days…of which we’ve had a few this summer.  So that whether it’s hot slippery asphalt, or the side of a cab, your elbows will be ready.

Where can I get me some? It always pays to shop around online, so these links are just for reference: you can find armor worn on the body made by Fieldsheer, Alpinestars, Icon, and Dainese.  Cheers!

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It’s been a nice long summer riding season with plenty of opportunities to record rides, and watch random ride videos… So let’s have a little contest.  Nominate your favorite ride video: it can be you, or a friend, or a random YouTube vid.  The only criteria is it has to be a non-professional video recorded in the Spring or Summer of 2010. So fire up your Movie Maker programs, or get searching on YouTube and post your links in the comments section.

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1. Inexpensive Onboard Video
2. Big Bang Video
3. More on twiddling your suspension…

Are scooters getting better looking or uglier?  You decide… Also take a look at the Honda PCX after the jump…

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Cars switching lanes, sometimes illegally (as in this instance), is probably the biggest hazard riders face around cities.  Now the traffic laws are a little different in CA compared to NY, but it’s still useful to watch this helmet cam video to come up with a strategy for avoiding these kinds of crashes.  Here are a couple of thoughts for your commute:

First, are you geared up? The rider here was…  You probably don’t need something to withstand 100mph slides (on your daily urban commute), but you do need some impact protection…  Full face helmet, elbow pads, gloves…

Second, make a point to check each pass before you make it. Is the driver considering changing lanes?  Does the driver see you (did you make eye contact)?  Is there enough room to escape if the driver moved into your lane?  Although the rider in the video didn’t do anything wrong, one warning sign he might notice in the future – even before the van began to turn its wheel – was the empty lane next to it.

Third, watch your relative speed. The rider in the video was moving briskly between cars (which appears to be normal in CA).  Just remember that in these types of accidents, it’s your relative speed that matters.  If traffic is moving at 35 and you’re doing 40, there will only be a mild impact (this happened to me with a cab once).  Unless you’re sure you can pass safely, it’s better to keep the relative under 10mph as you pass.

Anyway other tips?  Share the wealth in the comments section.

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